Comment

Comments on stories are a way for Saturday Extra listeners to contribute to and discuss the program.

Comments are moderated. Before you contribute, we recommend you read our house rules.

Reply

Author

Email

Date/Time

22 Feb 2018 6:15:06pm

Text

PreviousMessage

Thanks for this warm and eminently sensible interview. I agree with most of what Tim has to say. Tim implies that the white Australia policy was divisive and I agree emphatically with him on this. I think multiculturalism is a strength for Australia.

I actually think that a lot of work needs to be done to find a more inclusive national day for celebration than ANZAK Day. None of the real reasons why Australians were sent to fight Turks in World War I remotely connect with Australia's multicultural society in the twenty-first century. They were fighting in the service of the British Empire as one contingent among many. We should remember the futility and catastrophic waste, but not as a symbol of what this country is about. It is at odds with a multicultural Australia, even if Tim has come to accept it with his own version of the story. Regrettably, those few ethnic Chinese diggers were probably subjected to racial taunts in the barrack room, which he doesn't mention.

Nationalism founded upon militarism is exclusionary. It has a dark side. It is noteworthy that Tim did not get much opportunity to talk about indigenous traditions and sense of nationhood or the fact that Aboriginal veterans were omitted from memorials and barred from RSL clubs.

Much has been made by people like John Howard that our love of country should be beefed up with more compulsory marching and saluting of ever more flags. I would contend that Australia can enjoy national traditions that are more in character with who we are. US-style Patriotism is stifling to rational thought. I prefer a country that understands and lives its authentic history.

In this upbeat interview, Tim avoids mention of how we treat asylum seekers. No doubt he has addressed this elsewhere in his book. The fact is that a nation that reinvents it borders as a piece of legal trickery is not as comfortable with itself as Tim asserts. Nor should we be at ease with plans to inflict indefinite detention on remote islands with denial of legal redress and the inflicting of psychiatric harm as legitimate tools of ‘deterrence’ for asylum seekers who are would-be citizens of Australia. It is better that we genuinely live up to the great democratic traditions we proclaim. That way we can expect our diverse fellow Australians to embrace what we stand for.

Please note that there is limit per post of 3,000 characters, including spaces, carriage returns and punctuation (about 500 words). Your email address will not be published.